The Rapture?

Dispensationalist teach that there will be a great snatching up of the Church; a Great Escape if you will. Nowhere in Scripture is there any such notion of a Rapture. They often claim that Matt 24 is a prophetic passage about the the Rapture.

“Then two men will be in the field; one is taken and one is left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one is taken and one is left.” Matt. 24:40-41

However there is a parallel passage of the same teaching in Luke 17:33-37. In this alternate account the disciples ask a clarifying question. Where Lord? They are not asking where these people are left, but rather where they are taken. Jesus said that the bodies are taken to where the vultures are. If this is the Rapture, it doesn’t sound very pleasant nor does it sound like an escape from the Wrath of God. [c.f. Duet 28:49 gives a better idea of the type of vultures He is speaking of]

The context of the Matt 24 passage is that of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman army, that was fulfilled in 70 A.D. By all accounts both Biblical and secular this was a catastrophic event as described in the Duet 28 passage.

In has been taught that Rapture is found in 1 Thessalonians.
“But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
1Th. 4:13-18

There is no Rapture here. This is our great promise of The Resurrection. Only one event is listed here; not two separate events. The only timeline mentioned in connection with The Resurrection is in Rev 20:5-6. Please note: there is no tribulation mentioned here either.

“The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they shall reign with him a thousand years.” Rev. 20:5-6

If you have been taught that you are going to fly away and not face the wrath of God, I’m afraid that you will be sorely mistaken. When the Messiah returns He is going to punish His people.

“Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the marriage feast, so that they may open to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes; truly, I say to you, he will gird himself and have them sit at table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those servants! But know this, that if the householder had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an unexpected hour.” Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?” And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find so doing. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will punish him, and put him with the unfaithful. . And that servant who knew his master’s will, but did not make ready or act according to his will, shall receive a severe beating (to flay, the beating they gave Jesus ). But he who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, shall receive a light beating ( to flay, modified with the word few). Every one to whom much is given, of him will much be required; and of him to whom men commit much they will demand the more.” [Luke 12:35 -48]

Where do these unfaithful go … Matt 24:51; where men “weep and gnash their teeth”. Matt 25:30 says, “outer darkness”. At last but not least for this subject; “the narrow door parable” Lk 13:22-30 “but he will say, I tell you, I do not know where you came from; depart from me,..”.

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